THE CARROT CROP. 



WE now have to pass on to an entirely different order, 

 which, though containing many plants of importance to 

 us chiefly used for medicinal purposes contains only 

 four genera which enter into the agriculture of this 

 country. Of these, two only the Carrot and the Parsnip 

 come under the head of "root or fallow crops;" the 

 other two, Coriander and Carraway, will be more appro- 

 priately considered when we come to the "crops culti- 

 vated for special purposes." 



These all belong to the order "Umbelliferse;" and the 

 two we will now describe are met with as weeds common 

 to all the light-soil districts in the country. Of the genus 

 Daucus, 1 the common carrot, D. carota, is the only species 

 worth 'attention, and of this there are many different 

 varieties cultivated. It is a biennial plant, with, in its 

 natural state, a tough fusiform root, carrying a light grace- 

 ful top, surmounted by the readily recognized and charac- 

 teristic umbelliferous flowers and seed-stalks. These are 

 generally depressed in the centre, so as to form a sort of 

 cup, whence the name of "bird's nest" has been commonly 

 given to the wild species of our fields and waste places. 

 The carrot and the parsnip are both good representations 

 of the effect which cultivation has upon the original con- 

 dition of a plant. The plant in its natural state is the 

 same in appearance as when cultivated, but in the place 

 of the tough, stringy, fibrous roots of the former, we have 

 now a single fusiform root, largely developed in the cellular 



1 Daucus, from t*iS, to make hot, from the strong pungent taste of the seeds. 



